Wednesday, November 29, 2006

My Latest Obsession

James. Spader.

Love. Him.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

A Zamboni of My Own-ee


BOISE, Idaho (Nov. 22) - Two employees of the city's ice skating rink have been fired for making a midnight fast-food run in a pair of Zambonis.

An anonymous tipster reported seeing the two big ice-resurfacing machines chug through a Burger King drive-through and return to the rink around 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 10. The squat, rubber-tired vehicles, which have a top speed of about 5 mph, drove 1 1/2 miles in all.

The Zamboni operators, both temporary city employees whose names and ages were not released by Parks and Recreation Department, had to negotiate at least one intersection with a traffic light on their late-night creep from Idaho Ice World.

"They were fired immediately," said Parks Department Director Jim Hall. "We're pretty sure it was just the one time. When we interviewed them, they didn't seem to be too concerned about it. I don't think they understood the seriousness of it."

Hall said neither the $75,000 Zambonis nor their $10,000 blades appeared damaged, but the city could charge the employees with operating an unlicensed motor vehicle on a public street.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

What is Language, What is Lost?

Ever wonder where I got my blog title, My Looking Glass? Well, I blatantly ripped it off from a friend's song, Looking Glass. Joe Ongie is a mega-talented singer-songerwriter-musician-producer-artist, and as you maybe guessed already, I'm a huge fan of his work. Check out Joe's Myspace to hear his fantastic song Looking Glass, the namesake of this blog, and a couple other of my favorites, Another Day Tomorrow and XXX OOO (pronounced exes and zeros). Seriously, it's a friggin musical trifecta, so go here right now!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The Old Blue Barn

This was one of my vacation photos already posted, but I played with the lighting a little bit here, and I think it's better now.

The Crown Jewel of Long Beach

Forget the Queen Mary, lovely as she is. For my money, the crown jewel of Long Beach is the Villa Riviera. Gawd, I wish I could afford more than a studio in this building. Click to enlarge the photo so you can enjoy the gargoyles.

Don't Let Me Forget to Take

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Puppy Love

Ruby's growing up FAST! OMG, look at this face! My inner wordsmith is silent right now (no particular reason), so I'm going to post some pictures with very little ado.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Happy Days

I'm off to knitting camp for the weekend and running late, as usual. But I wanted to comment that I'm feeling really optimistic for the first time in, oh, six years. It's a great day to be an American. Cheers.

(This picture of Lindsey Buckingham is my reminder that I need to gush about his show last weekend. He's at the Wiltern Friday, and if you can do it, GO SEE THIS MAN!)

Sunday, November 05, 2006

The Nose Knows

I still can't breathe through my freaking nose!

It really pisses me off, too, because I'm sure I look like a total window-licker, breathing through my mouth.

And because of the stinking, window-licking guys (and they are all male) who make up the IT department at the hospital, I'll be working in the office Monday just like I did on Sunday. The computer problems for the telecommuters like myself continue to escalate, and I'm pretty confident that the bozos who are supposed to be fixing this mess will continue spin their wheels and do nothing, nada, zilch, zero, four words which, ironically enough, describe their personalities and people skills.

Did anyone catch Brothers and Sisters tonight? I really like that show!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Long, Strange Trip

Since my mom moved to the Midwest a few years ago, I've always taken my annual vacation to see her in the summer. This year, I opted for an autumn visit, and I think these photos demonstrate the wisdom in that decision. According to the locals, I missed the "peak" of autumn, but since my fall doesn't look like this at all, it was really a mute point to me. I recognize that some of the trees are bare, but we don't have maple trees in Southern California, so it was a visual feast for me nevertheless. Perhaps next year I'll visit in September rather than late October. This first picture is taken off my mom's back deck, and that white dusting is hail, not snow.

This cute little white house (cabin?) sits in the woods near the lake, Lake Huron to be specific. I shot this during one of myriad shopping trips/drives with my mother, aunt, and sister. OMG, my mom and aunt love to go shopping!

You'll notice the cobblestone chimney. While they exist in Southern California, chimneys like this are relatively rare. The reason? They crumble like a house of cards during an earthquake.

I really, really should make a couple light adjustments on this shot of the blue barn, but I think this is the finest picture from the trip. It's dark, but then, it was a pretty gloomy day. My aunt thought I might enjoy taking photos of her church, which I did; but across the street from the church was this neighboring barn which proved to be a more interesting subject. (It's better if you click to enlarge it.)


There was a short bus parked next to the elementary school at the church, and that fact doesn't require any commentary on my part.

While I try not to make judgmental comparisons between my home and my mother's, the one thing I find absolutely intolerable is the hunting in her region. Don't worry, you won't find any dead animals on this blog, but that's not to say I didn't see deer carcuses strapped to roofs of cars and trucks. I asked if it was hunting season (versus poaching season), and was duly informed that it was "bow and arrow season." So that means there are separate hunting seasons graded on varying degrees of barbarism. Oh, you can also purchase "bear bait" and "deer bait" at nearly every gas station around. The purpose of "bait" is to encourage your prey to pause and eat, thereby enabling the hunter to get a better shot. As much as mother tries to sell me on her little town, this will forever be a huge strike in its disfavor. That and driving on dirt roads like this, leading up to my cousin's summer cabin.


One of mom's neighbors turned their garage into a gas station. I have to admit, I'm impressed with the sense of playfulness and humor these people must have, not to mention their collection of vintage gas pumps and signage. The main house sits back and away from the garage, but this is what you encounter first from the street.

Overall, my sister and I had a nice visit with my mom, aunt and uncle, and many cousins. Mom has adjusted nicely to her quiet life as a widow. My dad never would have agreed to living in such a remote location, and this is how my mom always wanted to spend their retired years, so I'm happy that she's having this opportunity. That may sound funny. My dad was significantly older than my mom, so I always assumed she would survive him. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad she's still young and healthy enough to enjoy some golden years of her own.

Wonderjock

SYDNEY (Nov. 2) - Size really does count, just ask Australian underwear maker AussieBum which has just launched the "Wonderjock" for men who want to look bigger.

Since the launch seven days ago, AussieBum says it has sold 50,000 pairs of "Wonderjock," mostly on its Web site www.aussiebum.com and a handful of stores around the world.

"The design of the underwear, separates and lifts. The fabric cup protrudes everything out in front instead of down toward the ground," said "Wonderjock" designer Sean Ashby.

"There is no padding, rings or strings," said Ashby, a co-founder of the Internet-based AussieBum firm.

Ashby said the idea for the "Wonderjock" was the result of online feedback from customers who expressed an interest in looking bigger, just like women using the "Wonderbra."

"When you go to a department store to buy underwear you usually get a grandmother serving, which is not the ideal way to get feedback," said Ashby. "Our customers give us feedback. We didn't realize that big is better."

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Waiting for a Sign


Two things. The first is that Blogspot has been brutally slow and quirky with the uploading of photos lately. The second is that somewhere along the line, I've picked up an annoying yet full-blown cold. The combination of these two things is going to abort any attempt I may have made at witty commentary concerning the signs I found on vacation.


That said, I firmly believe a lot of these photos speak for themselves and require no further explanation nor written editorial. I mean, what could I possibly add of relevance to a very, very small town having a beer joint called Chum's bar? Not a whole helluva lot, I promise you. But I do suggest you click that picture and see it in it's full scale glory, it's a lot better that way.


Tell me, is there some kind of law that all small towns have a Ben Franklin dime store on Main Street? As you can see from this guy's glove, I was in Michigan. He's representing the Wolverines, not the Spartans, yo. And this guy was the only person of color I saw the whole time I was there, although there were some Mennonites at the Saginaw airport, and they were pretty colorful.


I'm saving my photos of Midwestern architecture for last because I think they are among the best. Hopefully Blogspot will cooperate with that venture. M*A*S*H just came on in the other room, and I'm going to take my box of Kleenex and go watch it.